Sudbury 
Chutes Provincial Park, located near the Trans-Canada Highway between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie offers a peaceful retreat surrounded by the scenic Aux Sables River. Hike the 6 km Twin Bridges Trail, enjoy a riverside beach day, camp under tall pines, or explore nearby trails around Georgian Bay. Don’t miss the stunning waterfalls, vibrant fall foliage, or serene winter views.
The northern shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay are lined with several parks. These are, for the most part, the more remote of Ontario’s parks with expansive wilderness areas for backcountry activities. These rocky shores are protected by areas like Killarney, the La Cloche Mountains, Heaven’s Gate, or the Mississagi Delta. In these parks, the backcountry opportunities for hiking, camping, boating, or paddling extend for dozens or hundreds of kilometres. However, backcountry and remote adventures require experience, equipment, and wilderness education. Luckily, this beautiful region of Northern Ontario has additional options for front-country recreation, camping, and hiking.
Chutes Provincial Park, while not right on the Georgian Bay shores, is a short drive north of the shores and the highway which runs alongside the water. Chutes borders the town of Massey and covers areas to the north of town around the Aux Sables River. The park’s tall pine forests create a division between the town and the park to provide a quiet place for a hike, swim, camping trip, or all of the above. The Chute Provincial Park campground, with several amenities including electricity at some sites, creates a cozy basecamp for adventures around the wilder parts of Huron’s north shores.
Here are the top activities and ways to make the best of your trip: hike, enjoy waterfall views, swim, birdwatch, picnic, or use it as a basecamp for nearby Georgian Bay destinations.
The Beauty of the Aux Sables River
The hiking trails and day use area of Chutes Provincial Park surround the Aux Sables River’s stretch of wild rapids, a multi-level waterfall, and a calm riverbend area under the waterfall. And while the warmer months offer up more in terms of activities, the beauty of the river starts at the beginning of the year. During the snowiest winter months, the riverbanks are draped with blankets of untouched snow that surround what is often a frozen waterfall.
As the temperatures rise, the park’s mature pine forests become busy with flower blooms and leaf blooms of other trees, while the Aux Sables waters become their most intense over the rapids or waterfall. Chutes Provincial Park is also a busy place for several types of birds, many of whom nest here during the spring. Watch or listen for woodpeckers, sapsuckers, thrushes, nuthatches, chickadees, kinglets, flycatchers, vireos or warblers.
Summers around Chutes Provincial Park offer laid-back, natural, and peaceful relaxation. Whether you find it on the trails, at the beach, or around the campground, this park is perfect for not only an adventure basecamp, but also as a serene getaway.
The scenery around Chutes Provincial Park during the fall season offers colourful scenery with bright reds, yellows, and greens, surrounding the trails or falls. Camping is open well into the fall season, too!
Beach Day by the River
The designated swimming area and sandy beach of Chutes Provincial Park is on a calm part of the Aux Sables River, and after the Falls drop off the rocks. The area is shallow and slow-moving, while the river’s floor is all soft sand and pebbles. The park has picnic areas, parking, and washrooms to help with a beach day. A sheltered picnic site is also available by reservation.
- Stock up on beach snacks and picnic foods in the neighbouring town of Massey, and further east or west along Highway 1.
- Take a break from the beach with the fishing rods. Both the Aux Sables and Spanish Rivers are open to angling and have salmon to offer!
The Twin Bridges Trail & More Nearby Hikes
In total, the Twin Bridges Trail loops around the Aux Sables River for 6km. This loop begins and ends at the main Falls and continues around the riverbanks with more viewing areas as well as interpretive signage.
The trail travels north alongside the river to the two bridge crossings which both count as their own viewing/lookout areas. Across the river, the trail creates two loops around the riverbanks and ends at the Falls.
This entire hike will get you several viewing areas, plus two vantage points for the waterfalls. With the bridges and viewing areas along the trail, it is easy to turn this into a shorter hike!
- Head south from Massey and Chutes Provincial Park and to the Georgian Bay north shore to find more hiking opportunities. And once at the Trans Canada, head south again from the town of Espanola. This is the highway which leads to Manitoulin Island. And before you hit Manitoulin, there is an array of hiking trails that offer incredible north shore scenery! This region is about 20-30km from Massey.
- The La Cloche Mountains and Heaven’s Gate Nature Preserve, to the south of Espanola, surround Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay with numerous hiking trails that range from easy to moderate, to challenging or multi-day hikes. The area’s simplest trails include the Grab Lake Trail or the Whitefish Falls Lookout.
- For a bigger trail challenge, hike to Heaven’s Gate! The trail traverses a ridge in the La Cloche Mountains, offering stunning vistas throughout its 12km length.
Riverside Camping
The campground loops in Chutes Provincial Park offer a wide variety of options for different settings or camping scenery. The D loop, for example, is the closest to the beach and under the thickest cover of trees, while the A and B loops are the closest to the comfort station. Additionally, Campground Loop A offers two barrier-free sites for those with wheelchairs or mobility issues by offering easier firepit access and a gravelled ground. And no matter which loop you reserve a campsite in, the waterfalls and river are always a short walk from your site.
- All campsites include a fire pit and picnic table, as well as proximity to water taps, outhouses, or the comfort station with showers. Roughly half of these sites offer electrical hookups, while many also offer plenty of space for bigger rigs.
- Chutes Provincial Park also has two group campgrounds: the first can fit up to 30 tents, while the second can accommodate up to 15 tents. Neither campground has electricity, but they do have access to water taps and nearby washrooms.
Planning Your Trip – The Chutes Provincial Park
What: The Chutes Provincial Park is north of the Trans Canada Highway as it passes the Georgian Bay, north Huron shoreline, and Manitoulin Island to the south.
The park boundaries also border the town of Massey, which helps to give the park an even blend of access to urban services and remote wilderness areas. Chutes Provincial Park surrounds the Aux Sables River as it creates beautiful rapids along the rocks, and a waterfall near the campground.
The park’s recreational activities all surround the river to include the riverside campsites, a beach and swimming area after the falls, permission to fish, and a moderate nature trail.
The park gates are closed during the winter months, but the park remains open to foot access with equally as beautiful views of the river and falls as you’d get in the summer.
Location and how to get there: 650 Imperial St N, Massey
Chutes Provincial Park lies between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. It’s about 1 hour and 10 minutes (95 km) from Sudbury and 2 hours and 30 minutes (210 km) from Sault Ste. Marie.
Chutes Provincial Park is located approximately 475 km from Toronto and 580 km from Ottawa.
Best time to go: camping May-October; gates are closed November to April, but the trails and campground remain open to foot, ski, or snowshoe access.
Cost: camping $19.36-$59.33 per night
Daily Vehicle Access: $15.50 full day
For more information:
